Sited within the shadow of the future I-49 Connector Project, set to bifurcate the city of Lafayette, this building represents the continuing connection between the divided city with the coalescing of two ideas within one form: Education—giving to the community in the humanitarian form, and conservation—giving to the community in the ecological form. Containing standard classrooms, music, art, and science auxilary spaces, the entire project is anchored by the floating, undulating courtyard that rests atop a central library space. This landscape is an extention of the classroom, giving students direct access to native flora without leaving the campus. The building’s serpantine form works to direct water into the courtyard and release it slowly back into the ground by way of an at-grade rain garden in order to mitigate the water seen in recent flooding. As the city begins to urbanize, this project hopes to educate the generations that inhabit it on the continuing importance and necessity of conservation within the urban context.

UL Lafayette Comprehensive Building Studio

Critics: Thomas Sammons and Kiwana McClung